Lithuanian intelligence told to focus on Belarus, Russia’s exclave

June 26, BPN. The Lithuanian State Defense Council discussed national security amid unrest in Russia with “considerable emphasis” on the situation in Belarus, Lithuanian President’s press office reported.

The Russian regime has “demonstrated its vulnerability in a new crisis” caused by the Wagner Group uprising, President Gitanas Nausėda told the Council’s meeting on June 25. Similar or even more serious challenges may arise in the future, he warned.

Potential Wagner Group presence in Belarus may pose more security threats, Nausėda said referring to reports of the mercenaries’ chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s exile to Belarus.

The State Defense Council agreed to strengthen security at Lithuania’s and NATO’s eastern borders. The Council’s recommendation on border protection must be approved and implemented before the NATO summit scheduled for July 11 and 12 in Vilnius, Nausėda stressed.

The Council also instructed intelligence services to focus on Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad region in light of growing threats of illegal activities at the Lithuanian-Belarusian border. Nausėda also called for additional personalized screenings not only for Russian but also for Belarusian nationals.

Prigozhin’s military revolt started on June 23 as Wagner units left the occupied parts of Ukraine and entered Russia in a “march of justice.” They passed through Russia’s Rostov-on-Don, Voronezh and the Lipetsk region before stopping within 200 km from Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the mercenaries of treason and threatened them with “imminent punishment.”

On June 24, Alaksandr Łukašenka’s press office reported that he “held talks” with Prigozhin at Putin’s request. Later that day, the Wagner chief announced the return of his units to their bases to avoid bloodshed but did not mention Łukašenka’s involvement.

Prigozhin “will go to Belarus” and Russian authorities would drop criminal charges of armed mutiny against him, Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists late on June 24.